Our EDLD 5364 Week 5 Readings and videos discussed student effort, achievement, and motivation. I also learned about different gaming environments that teach students what they need to learn. This week seemed to focus on a "Say, Goodbye to Textbooks" theme.
“By relying on a stereotype, these students ignore the effort other students put into doing well” (Pitler, 2007, p.156). I have seen students and staff members ignore the effort others put into doing well. I had a student tell me that no one in his family could read and they were all in Special Ed, so he would never be able to read either. I told him that he could not have a defeatist attitude and it was all about the effort someone put into improving his/her reading ability. Pitler stated, “When a student makes a connection between academic successes with factors outside of his or her control—things like heredity, gender, or race—it’s easy to develop a defeatist attitude” (Pitler, 2007, p.156). My student decided to put forth extra effort and began to read to me during my Planning period 3 times a week. Within a few months, his confidence and reading ability increased. By the end of the year, he passed the 5th Grade Reading TAKS Accommodated test. It was a special moment in my teaching career when he told me, “Mrs. Z, thanks for the effort. It took you showing me “effort” for me to succeed.” I was a bit shocked to hear him sound so grown-up.
People often expect my children to "attribute success to different sources" instead of attributing it "to their own innate abilities" (Pitler, 2007, p. 155). I grew up putting forth a lot of effort in my athletic and academic capabilities, but many people pressure my children to be as successful as I was due to inherited "athletic and academic" traits. I also sometimes feel pressured to force them to be as athletically and academically successful as me. "The research tells us that not all students realize the importance of effort. Many attribute their success or failure to external factors.” (Pitler, 2007, p.156). I think not all adults "realize the importance of effort". I stress the importance of effort and hard work to my children, because without it they will not be successful. I actually told my six year old, "Jack, if you want as many trophies as mommy then you will have to do your best, work-hard, and put forth more effort than your opponents." He then asked me, "Are the opponents the ones I want to beat?" I said, "Yes, and sometimes you are your own opponent.
In the Big Thinkers video, Paul Gee spoke about how video gaming gives instantaneous problem solving capabilities with immediate feedback (Edutopia.org, n.d.). I believe my own children are more motivated to learn when I use technology to teach them. I think Project-Based learning gives students the opportunity to experience the "gaming environment" mentioned in this week's video selections. Our campus is going to try some Project-Based learning next year, because staff members are seeing the vital role technology plays in student effort and achievement.
"Edutopia.org (n.d.). Big thinkers: James Paul Gee on grading with games. Retrieved on March 22, 2009 from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-james-gee-video.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 155-164.
